BY BAG
CONFIDENTIAL
16t
布政司署
香港下亞畢道
*** Our Ref.: SCR 7/1126/49
АКК
040/1
NT SECRETARIAT
RECEIVED IN REGISTRY NO.
ALBERT ROAD
HONG KONG
DESK OFFICER
INDEX
рет дер
REGISTRY
Jiffy Legdon Taken
* YOUR REF.:
In Me Qua
مل 10/1/7
2017
Quad
P J Williamson Esq HK&GD
Mr Scarle
FCO
Dear Patuck
171997 is open country
darw. It went two year ago.
1. Enter
Z
Mr
OR
Iwikia
Q.7.81.
I agree
1997 AND ALL THAT
You will have gathered from our previous corres- pondence that the question of the future of Hong Kong beyond 1997 is being given a fairly extensive airing in the local press. It seems that no newspaper can resist the urge to indulge its views, opinions, advice and speculation.
2.
The latest of the dailies to take an interest in the 'big issue' is the new Cheng Ming Daily (Zhengming Ribao) which published its first issue on 18 June apparently under the same editorial board as the monthly publication of that name. So far the newspaper stories on events and developments in China seem to be very well informed.
3.
Cheng Ming pegged its comments on 1997 to an opinion poll it had recently conducted amongst university students, villagers in the New Territories, new arrivals from China, members of the general public and an interview with a lecturer at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. I enclose summary translations of the five-part series of articles. Apart from the poll of the general public's views, where some 900 people were interviewed, there is no indication of the size of the survey sample and no way of knowing how randomly subjects were selected. The scientific validity of the survey is perhaps of less interest (the findings are not particularly revealing or surprising) than the fact that a new publication, chasing increased circulation, should choose to conduct it.
You
ever
cc AC Galsworthy Esq PEKING
AR Paul Esq FED FCO
(P I Webb)
CONFIDENTIAL